Protective device



April 13, 1937. G R, ELDRED 2,076,765

PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed March 25, 1933 E ViVENfR.

A TTORNEYrS Patented Apr. 13, 1937 En srAr sys ear oFrio)lez;A

ApplicationMarch 25, 1933, Serial No. 662,753

14Claims. (Cl. 2li-Loli) This invention relates to. protective devicesand to theprevention; of robberies andthe like, and is. particularly applicableto` vaults or. similar spaces,- for the4 storage'of valuables, suchas are 5 provivzled'byv banks and other institutions.

Suchfinstitutionslas'lkeep large-amounts of cashand other valuable. articles.` havey been provided inA the. past with vaults or. storage spaces having relatively impenetrable protectingwalls and lo doors, to render access tathestored articles. dif-.-

cult. They also frequently are, equipped with alarm systems. and the. like, and with armedA guards, and. other. precautions. are. taken. against. theft.. With. a Well, constructed, vaulty having l5 adequate doors and. locks. the. breaking into., the storage space is diilcult, hence burglary of such vaults is infrequent. It will be noted that most recent thefts fromV banks and the like have been committed' by robbery during. business hours, the robbers intimidating' the occupants of.' the institution while entering the vault and removing articles therefrom.

Of course, when the employees of a bank are confronted with armed robbers, they are not inclined to actuate alarms or do anything else which may precipitate unpleasant results upon them. If, however, the bank be provided with means for insuring removal of atleast one of its personnell beyondthe range of a rcbbers weapons. this person' becomes free tol operate alarms and the like, to release incapacitating gas, to lockl all means of egress 'from the bank, or in any other manners' tot set into motion instrumentalites for the' capture ofI the robbers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatusv which will insure placing of at least one member of the personnel of; a concern using it in a safe place, from which he' can actuate anyv protective devices desired. 40 Another object is to provide an improved device for protecting one person, which may be mounted in a doorway such as that leading to a vault or to oneY chamber of av vault.

Another object of` the invention is to provide an' improved protectingv device which may be mounted in a doorway but may be moved so that it willi not obstructthe doorway.

Another'obj'ect isf to provideV a= device which may befol'cl'ed, when not in use; into a relatively narrowspace;

Other objectsl will hereinafter appear.

The invention will be better understood from the description of one practical embodiment thereof illustrated the accompanying drawing,

in'rwhich:

Figure 1 is a planlview of a more or lesstypical small bank vau1t,. inl which. the illustrated. emboclirnentv of thev invention. has, been installed;

Figure 2 is. an enlarged sectional plan View of. the door shown, vin. Figure. 1 with partsin closed positi0n;. s.

Figure 3, is, aview similar to Figure 2. showing, the inner door of thedeviee-in partly open-posi tion;

Figure4. is, a. view similarto. Figures 2. and 3A but showing the outer door of the device in partly. open. position;

Figure 54 is aview similar to. Figui-cs2. to ibut showing the parts of the device. in folded. position; and j Figure. 6 is, a, perspective View, parts,I being, broken., away, of' the. device in operativeposition. withbcth the inner andV outer doors.. closed.

In Figure 1, a vault is shown. having. anouter chamberA andan inner chamber Bf.. the. two be ing. surrounded; by walls I' andi separated. by a H transverse partition 2. A door. 3. through. the outer wall provides access tor the outer cham.-` ber A, this being the chamber in which are generally. located safeti.7 depositboxes-d'and thelike. I Through the partition 2 is a doorway surrounded by a frame 5`in which is mounted a. door so designedV that only one person atv a time, may enter the inner chamber,r and' that While that person is passing through the door he will, as long as he desiresbe entirely enclosed by bullet-proof walls and thus isolated from all* other persons in either chamber of the vault.

This door consists of a peripheral'I frame 6 which', to eliminate confusion with the frame 5, will hereinafter be referred to` as the; chassis'. This chassisl isi connected to. the frame at one sidebyhinges l and at the. other side byy a combination lock, 84 controlling bolts 9. It, will be understood that the outer portion ofthe chassis corresponds t o that of a conventional, vault door which might be swung' upon the hingesv 1 and used toV closev theV opening through the frame 5. The chassis has hingedly connected to it three doorcr-wall members. On the side facing'com.- pa'rtmentv A is an outer door liu supported-1 by hingesV Il and tarranged to entirely close the space through the chassis andY tol swingoutward.- ly' in the manner illustrated in Figure 4j.

A lock lJZj operable from the space within the chassis retains4 this door in closed position'. 0n the inner side or thechassis is a Wall o r partition i3 pivotedupon hinges 1:4/ soi-that it may befolded from the position shown in FiguresV 2 to 4 tothat shown Figure 5'. 'Ihis partition carries adjaure 3, and connected to the partition I3 by a` latch 22.4v The inner door has ilxed to it adjacent its hinged edge upwardly and downwardly extending brackets 23, each provided with a sectorshaped end 24 concentric with the pivots of hinges 20. Notches 25 are formed in the sector-k shaped ends of these brackets, and arranged to enter these notches or be withdrawn therefrom are the ends of bars or bolts 26 slidably carried in bearings 2l secured to the chassis 5.

.The other end of each'bolt is provided with a slot 28'receiving a pin 29 carried by a bracket 3U which issecured to the outer-door I0, the pin being eccentric to the axis of hingesl I.

Knobs or A,handles 3| and 32 are provided on the exterior of doors IIJ .and 2I by which either may be opened,vbut the latches or locks on these doors are operable onlyfrom the triangularprismatic spaceenclosed by these two doors and partition AThe. operation of the device is as'followsz-V The chassis, of course, is installed in the door-y way in place of the usual type of door. .At night or at other times .when it is not desired to; use the vault, door III'is securedto the chassis by means of lock `I2 andthe chassisitself locked Vin place bythe lock 8. If the chamber Bis so `iilledat such times that the space normally occupied by the triangular rearward extension of the device is needed, partition I3 and door 2I may be folded, as shown inFigure 5, but if the space is not required they may be left extended as shown in the' other figures. 45

When it is desired to remove articles of considerable size from the vault, as for instance upon opening a bank inthe morning, when trays mustV beftaken to the tellers stations, combination 8 is actuated to release the door which is swung to the position shown yat O in Figure 1, so that a clear passagewayis provided. After removing such' large articles as are desired, the chassis is locked within the frame 5, the catch I2, of course, having been released,.and the parts arranged in extended` position.

' When` a person desires to enter chamber B he first opens door I 0 by pulling it outwardly as shown in Figure 4. This motion moves pins 29 to the right, as illustrated in this figure, causing vthe bars 26 to enter notches 25 and thus securely lock door 2I against movement. I- Iaving opened the door, the operator steps within the triangular space standing upon floor I5, and closes door I0 Y behind him. The space enclosed by the doors I0, 2| and partition I3 is so small that only one person may be received in it at a time. After closing door IIJ, which operation withdraws the bar 26 from the notch 25, the operator may open Vdoor `2I and the Vmovement of-sectors 24 causes them Yto overlie-the ends of bars 26, rendering the opening' of door I0 impossible, the parts being in the position shown in Figure 3. f After passing yto .the interior of chamber B, the operator may close door2| whichrenders the'parts available for use by persons in either chambers A or B,f

When a person has entered the vestibule within the device, he may, of course, actuate latches 2 and/or 22 to lock himself in. It will be understood that within the vestibule will be positioned means for actuating signals or other devices, so that in the event of robbery, as long as one of the personnel is safely within the vestibule, he can actuate any or all these devices and will be protected as long as he remains within the vestibule.

It will also be apparent that it is desirable that lock 8 be a time lock or other mechanism which cannot readily be actuated.

The folding of the deviceY as shown in Figure 5 serves three useful purposes; the first has al.

ready been referred to, vnamely that the apparatus may, when desired, be causedtto occupy n0 more space than would a conventional vault door, so that the entire space within chamber B may be utilized; the second is that if the deposit boxes, walls, or other obstructions limit the outward swinging of the chassis so that the vestibule would project in front of the doorwaythis vestibule may be folded out of the way, as shown in Figure l; and the third is that the device'maybe folded, rendering it very compactforpurposes of shipping, handling, and installation, without any necessity for dis-assembling its parts.

While I have describedthe illustrated embodiment of my invention in some particularity, obviously many others will readily. occur to those skilled in this art', and I do not, therefore, limit myself to the precise details shown and described but claim as my invention all embodiments, variations and modifications thereof coming within l Yfrom said chassis and with a third panel Vto enclose 'a triangular space, means for locking one of said panels in its outward position, and interlocking means interposed between the two remaining panels whereby ,when either is swung'k outwardly the other is locked against motion, the chassis being pivotally supported in` a door frame.

A 2.V A protective device adapted to be positioned in a doorway comprising a chassis, hinges. sup-` porting said chassis and connected to a door frame, a lock for retaining the chassis across thev doorway, panels connected to said chassis and forming a vestibule having two doors, interlocking connections between said doors, and floor and ceiling members for said yestibulepivotally supported by the chassis. k

3. A protective device comprising three vertical panels enclosing -a generally triangular space and pivotally supported, two of said panels being arranged to swing outwardly from said enclosed space, and interlocking connection between said two panels whereby one only may be swung outwardly at a time, said connection comprising an eccentric pivot carried by one panel, a bolt slidable thereby, and a notched sector carried by the other panel.

4. A protective device comprising a chassis, three vertical panels pivotally connected thereto and arranged to be folded into substantially the plane of the chassis, two of the panelsarranged to be swung outwardly from said -chassis and with the third panel to enclose a triangular space,

wardly the other is locked against motion, and a pivotal support for said chassis.

5. A protective device adapted to be positioned in a doorway comprising a chassis, hinges supporting said chassis and connected to a door frame, a lock for retaining the chassis across the doorway, panels connected to said chassis and forming a vestibule having two doors, interlocking connections between said doors, and floor and ceiling members for said vestibule, said panels and floor and ceiling members being foldable substantially within said chassis.

6. A protective device comprising a chassis, supporting means supporting said chassis movably in a doorway, a plurality of panels pivotally 8. A protective device comprising a chassis,

three panels pivotally connected thereto and adapted to surround a generally triangular space, locking means locking one of said' panels in the position they assume in surrounding the space, and interlocking means interposed between the other two panels whereby when either is moved from space surrounding position the other is positively locked against motion, said panels being movable into substantially parallel positions.

9. A protective device comprising a chassis, pivotal means supporting said chassis in a doorway, a lock for retaining said chassis in said doorway, panels carried by said chassis and forming a vestibule having two pivotally mounted doors selectively swingable away from said' vestibule, and interlocking connections between said doors whereby when either is swung from vesti.- bule closing position the other is positively locked against motion.

10. A protective device comprising a chassis, pivotal means supporting said chassis in a doorway, a lock for retaining said chassis in said door- Way, panels carried by said chassis and forming a vestibule having two pivotally mounted doors selectively swingable away from said vestibule, interlocking connections between said doors whereby when either is swung from vestibule closing position the other is positively locked against motion, and oor and ceiling members carried by said chassis and closing the top and bottom of said vestibule.

11. A protective device comprising a chassis arranged to be positioned in a doorway, a plurality of panels carried by said chassis and movable into two positions, in one of which they lie substantially in the plane of the chassis and in the other of which they surround a space sufficient to accommodate one person, and interlocking connections between two of said panels.

12. A protective device comprising three vertical panels surrounding a generally triangular space and pivotally supported, one of said panels being movable only into said triangular space and two of said panels being arranged to swing outwardly from said space, locking means for said first mentioned panel, and interlocking means between said two last mentioned panels, whereby only one may be swung outwardly at a time, said panels being movable into substantially parallel positions.

13. A protective device comprising a chassis, pivotal supporting means' therefor arranged in a doorway, a lock maintaining said chassis across the doorway, three vertical panels surrounding a generally triangular space and pivotally supported, one of said panels being movable into only said triangular space and two of said panels being arranged to swing outwardly from said space, locking means for said rst mentioned panel, and interlocking means between said two last mentioned panels, whereby only one may be swung outwardly at a time.

14. A protective device comprising walls dening a vestibule having two doorways and outwardly opening doors arranged to close said doorways, a rigid' member positively connected with one of said doors and movable therewith, an abutment carried by the other door capable of being interposed in the path of said member whenever said last mentioned door is moved from its closed position, and when in the path of said member preventing movement of said member.

GLEN R. ELDRED.

CIJ 

